I'm actually not being funny. I'm being totally serious.
Sounds like you need to restart. If you can't get a book and deal with the problem... Then you should get a gardener.
The more times that you remove leaves the more issues that you're going to have.
That plant spent so much more in energy and nutrients that you just threw in the garbage...
And canopy penetration doesn't mean anything. Like I said... I'm standing here shaking my head.
Sad...